Consumer–brand relationships within the luxury cosmetic domain

Relationship marketing and practice has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years, becoming globally recognized and adopted. Yet despite this, empirical work exists in developing relational phenomena between consumers and the brands they purchase from. An exception of this is a study by Fournier, w...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hodge, April Charlotte, González Romo, Zahaira Fabiola, García Medina, Irene, Fionda Douglas, Antoinette
Format: article
Publication Date:2015
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:20.500.12328/4526
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12328/4526
https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/bm.2015.36
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Marques de luxe
Marques de cosmètics
Comportament del consumidor
Relacions consumidor-marca
Marcas de lujo
Marcas de cosméticos
Comportamiento del consumidor
Relaciones entre consumidores y marcas
Luxury brands
Cosmetic brands
Consumer behaviour
Consumer–brand relationships
316
Description
Summary:Relationship marketing and practice has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years, becoming globally recognized and adopted. Yet despite this, empirical work exists in developing relational phenomena between consumers and the brands they purchase from. An exception of this is a study by Fournier, which considered relationship phenomena in the context of consumer goods, although no research has proved to consider consumer–brand relationships within the luxury cosmetic sphere. This study aims to address this limitation by examining relationship typologies and brand personality, seeking to uncover their relevance within the luxury cosmetic domain. Specifically the study (i) identifies relationship typologies between consumers and their luxury cosmetic brands, proving that consumer–brand relationships exist within this domain; (ii) highlights the importance of brand personality to the relationship dyad; (iii) identifies key themes that prove significant to consumer–brand relationships within this context, which allowed for relationship typologies that prove most important to maintaining strong relationships to be identified within a luxury cosmetic context. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed with consideration to Fournier’s 15 types of brand relationships, which were used in order to classify relationships within the luxury cosmetic context. Further analysis illustrated the significance of brand personality, demonstrating that brand personality has the power to shape and define the relationships that consumers wish to form. In addition, key relationship typologies within this sphere were identified, using themes that were uncovered through thematic analysis, which proved a deeper insight into relational phenomena. The results can be interesting not only for academic purposes but also for the industry as the managers of luxury cosmetic brands need to know well their consumers in order to reinforce the relationship between the brands and the customers.